A government bill now before Parliament adds ketamine and esketamine to Table IV of Portugal's 1993 drug law, citing rising recreational use. Medical and veterinary use continues; firms handling it get 60 days to apply for new licences.
Infarmed data show pharmacies sold 132 million euros of obesity medicines from January to June, a record 731,000 euros a day, with Mounjaro three quarters of sales. Patients pay full price until a limited 15 percent scheme starts in February 2027.
From Sunday, people already in opioid treatment in Albufeira, Loulé, Portalegre, Portimão, São Brás de Alportel, Santiago do Cacém and Vila do Bispo can take methadone at a local pharmacy on referral. The state pays pharmacies 30 euros a month per patient.
INFARMED's August reports: patients paid 650.3 million euros for reimbursed medicines in pharmacies, 2.4 percent more than in 2025, while the SNS paid 1,338.5 million and hospitals spent 1,828.4 million. How to keep your own share down.
Portaria 465/2026/1 makes trial sponsors keep giving participants the tested medicine free after their part ends, if the investigator judges it indispensable and no equivalent treatment exists, until it reaches the market and the SNS.
A new ministerial order sets a 15 percent State reimbursement for prescription obesity drugs, limited to SNS patients treated by a hospital obesity team and prescribed by specialists. Infarmed's own figures suggest patients would still pay most of the price.
Boehringer Ingelheim will stop selling Nolotil 2,000 mg/5 ml injection in Portugal from 1 February 2027, citing manufacturing reasons. Infarmed says a sodium metamizole injection stays available and asks hospitals to adapt their protocols in good time.
